The compact disk, or CD, has become a preferred medium for recording music and other audio information (as well as other types of information that can be digitally recorded), displacing the older vinyl recordings (LP's). Their small size, large digital storage capacity and durability have won the favor of consumers, who have purchased large quantities of CD's in recent years.
CD's are conventionally sold in rigid plastic cases, or "jewel cases", which can easily be stacked. However, large stacks of CD's make access to individual CD's difficult, and are also liable to being upset. The large thickness of the jewel cases relative to the CD's also increases the volume required for storage of the CD's.
Attempts have been made to provide devices for storing CD's in a convenient manner. For example, shelves and "bookcase"-type storage units have been produced. Another alternative has been the "tower"-type storage unit, in which CD's, in their jewel cases, are disposed in vertically-arranged slots or shelves. Variants of this type of unit include multiple-stack units mounted on turntables. Such units, however, are bulky, often have limited storage capacity, and only display the edges of the CD's, making it more difficult to identify the CD's so stored. Furthermore, a desired CD may be located at the bottom of a tower unit, thus requiring the user to stoop to floor level to retrieve the CD.
A need has existed for devices for storing articles, such as CD's, which have high storage capacity, are compact, and afford ready identification of and access to the stored articles.